II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5202 

To amend the Fentanyl Sanctions Act to strengthen the imposition of 

sanctions under that Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Mr. RUBIO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Fentanyl Sanctions Act to strengthen the 

imposition of sanctions under that Act, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fentanyl Reduction 

5 Engrained by Economic Deterrence Act’’ or the ‘‘FREED 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF SANCTIONS UNDER THE FENTANYL 

2 SANCTIONS ACT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7212 of the Fentanyl 

4 Sanctions Act (21 U.S.C. 2312) is amended to read as 

5 follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 7212. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 

7 ‘‘(a) APPLICATION TO FOREIGN PERSONS.—The 

8 President shall impose the sanctions described in section 

9 7213(a)(6) with respect to any foreign person that— 

10 ‘‘(1) is identified as a foreign opioid trafficker 

11 in the report submitted under section 7211(a); or 

12 ‘‘(2) the President determines— 

13 ‘‘(A) knowingly has engaged in, or at14 tempted to engage in, an activity or transaction 

15 that has materially contributed to, or poses a 

16 significant risk of materially contributing to, 

17 opioid trafficking; 

18 ‘‘(B) knowingly has received any property 

19 or interest in property that the foreign person 

20 knows or should have known— 

21 ‘‘(i) constitutes or is derived from the 

22 proceeds of an activity or transaction de23 scribed in subparagraph (A); or 

24 ‘‘(ii) was used or intended to be used 

25 to commit or to facilitate such an activity 

26 or transaction; 


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1 ‘‘(C) knowingly has provided, or attempted 

2 to provide, financial, material, or technological 

3 support for, including through the provision of 

4 goods or services in support of— 

5 ‘‘(i) any activity or transaction de6 scribed in subparagraph (A); or 

7 ‘‘(ii) any foreign person described in 

8 paragraph (1) or clause (i) of this subpara9 graph; 

10 ‘‘(D) is an adult spouse or other family 

11 member of an individual described in paragraph 

12 (1) or subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of this 

13 paragraph; or 

14 ‘‘(E) is or has been owned, controlled, or 

15 directed by, or has knowingly acted or pur16 ported to act for or on behalf of, directly or in17 directly, any foreign person described in para18 graph (1) or subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of 

19 this paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION TO AGENCIES AND INSTRUMEN21 TALITIES OF FOREIGN STATES.—The President shall im22 pose 3 or more of the sanctions described in section 7213 

23 with respect to— 

24 ‘‘(1) each agency or instrumentality of a foreign 

25 state (as defined in section 1603(b) of title 28, 


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1 United States Code) that the President deter2 mines— 

3 ‘‘(A) has engaged in, or attempted to en4 gage in, an activity or transaction that has ma5 terially contributed to, or poses a significant 

6 risk of materially contributing to, opioid traf7 ficking; or 

8 ‘‘(B) has provided, or attempted to pro9 vide, financial, material, or technological sup10 port for, including through the provision of 

11 goods or services in support of, any activity or 

12 transaction described in subparagraph (A); 

13 ‘‘(2) each foreign person the President deter14 mines is a senior official of an agency or instrumen15 tality of a foreign state described in paragraph (1); 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(3) each foreign person that the President de18 termines is or has been owned, controlled, or di19 rected by, or has knowingly acted or purported to 

20 act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, an 

21 agency or instrumentality of a foreign state de22 scribed in paragraph (1) or a foreign person de23 scribed in paragraph (2). 

24 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION OF APPLICABILITY TO CER25 TAIN FOREIGN PERSONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The sanctions described in 

2 section 7213 may not apply to a foreign person de3 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(D) if the President de4 termines that there is clear and convincing evidence 

5 the person— 

6 ‘‘(A) is no longer in contact with the indi7 vidual described in paragraph (1) of subsection 

8 (a) or subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of para9 graph (2) of that subsection; and 

10 ‘‘(B) has provided reliable assurances that 

11 the person will not engage in any conduct de12 scribed in subsection (a) in the future. 

13 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days 

14 after making a determination under paragraph (1), 

15 the President shall submit to the appropriate con16 gressional committees and leadership a report on the 

17 determination.’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

19 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 90 days 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

21 (c) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall, not 

23 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

24 of this Act, prescribe regulations as necessary for 


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1 the implementation of the amendment made by sub2 section (a). 

3 (2) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

4 than 10 days before prescribing regulations under 

5 paragraph (1), the President shall notify the appro6 priate congressional committees and leadership (as 

7 defined in section 7203 of the Fentanyl Sanctions 

8 Act (21 U.S.C. 2302)) with respect to the proposed 

9 regulations. 

10 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF WHETHER CERTAIN ENTITIES 

11 OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA MEET 

12 CRITERIA FOR IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

15 Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and 

16 the Attorney General, shall— 

17 (1) determine whether any entity specified in 

18 subsection (b)— 

19 (A) is responsible for or complicit in, the 

20 production, manufacture, distribution, sale, of 

21 fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, or the precursor 

22 chemicals for fentanyl or its analogues; or 

23 (B) meets the criteria for the imposition of 

24 sanctions under— 


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1 (i) the Fentanyl Sanctions Act (21 

2 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.); 

3 (ii) the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin 

4 Designation Act (21 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.); 

5 or 

6 (iii) Executive Order 14059 (50 

7 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to imposing 

8 sanctions on foreign persons involved in 

9 the global illicit drug trade); 

10 (2) submit to Congress a report on the deter11 mination made under paragraph (1) with respect to 

12 each entity specified in subsection (b) that includes 

13 the reasons for the determination; and 

14 (3) if the Secretary of the Treasury makes an 

15 affirmative determination under paragraph (1) with 

16 respect to an entity specified in subsection (b), in17 clude the entity on the list of specially designated 

18 nationals and blocked persons maintained by the Of19 fice of Foreign Assets Control. 

20 (b) ENTITIES SPECIFIED.—An entity specified in this 

21 subsection is any of the following: 

22 (1) Bank of China Limited. 

23 (2) Ministry of Public Security. 

24 (3) General Administration of China Customs. 

25 (4) Alibaba. 


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1 (5) Hebei Aicrowe Biotech Co. Ltd. 

2 (6) Shanghai Huilitongda Biological Technology 

3 Co. Ltd. 

4 (7) Crovell Biotech Co. Ltd. 

5 (8) Shunwei Biological. 

6 (9) Ministry of State Security. 

7 (c) FORM OF REPORT.—The report required by sub8 section (a)(2) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but 

9 may include a classified annex. 

10 SEC. 4. DETERMINATIONS WITH RESPECT TO PRIMARY 

11 MONEY LAUNDERING CONCERN RELATING 

12 TO FINANCING OF ILLICIT FENTANYL AND 

13 OTHER CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES. 

14 If the Secretary of the Treasury determines that 1 

15 or more financial institutions operating outside of the 

16 United States, 1 or more classes of transactions within, 

17 or involving, a jurisdiction outside of the United States, 

18 or 1 or more types of accounts within, or involving, a juris19 diction outside of the United States, is of primary money 

20 laundering concern in connection with the financing of il21 licit fentanyl and other controlled substances, the Sec22 retary of the Treasury may, by order, regulation, or other23 wise as permitted by law, require domestic financial insti24 tutions and domestic financial agencies to take one or 


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1 more of the special measures described in section 

2 5318A(b) of title 31, United States Code. 

3 SEC. 5. REPORT ON IMPROVED ENFORCEMENT WITH RE4 SPECT TO MONEY LAUNDERING RELATING 

5 TO FINANCING OF ILLICIT FENTANYL AND 

6 OTHER CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

9 Treasury shall submit to appropriate congressional com10 mittees a report that identifies any additional regulations, 

11 statutory changes, enhanced due diligence requirements, 

12 or reporting requirements the Secretary determines are 

13 necessary to better identify, prevent, and combat money 

14 laundering connected with the financing of illicit fentanyl 

15 and other controlled substances, including related to— 

16 (1) identifying the beneficial ownership of anon17 ymous entities; and 

18 (2) enhanced know-your-customer procedures 

19 and screenings for transactions involving any organi20 zation identified by the Secretary as— 

21 (A) a drug cartel or other criminal organi22 zation based in Mexico; 

23 (B) a money laundering organization based 

24 in the People’s Republic of China; or 


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1 (C) any other entity involved in the financ2 ing of illicit fentanyl. 

3 (b) FORM.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The report required by sub5 section (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

6 but may include a classified annex and be accom7 panied by a classified briefing. 

8 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The unclassified 

9 portion of the report required by subsection (a) shall 

10 be made available to the public, including on a pub11 licly accessible internet website of the Department of 

12 the Treasury. 

13 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE14 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres15 sional committees’’ means— 

16 (1) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

17 Urban Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Rela18 tions of the Senate; and 

19 (2) the Committee on Financial Services and 

20 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 

21 Representatives. 

22 SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL CO23 OPERATION. 

24 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of the 

25 Treasury and other relevant Federal officials, such as the 


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1 Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

2 and the Attorney General, should work jointly with finan3 cial intelligence units, trade transparency units, and ap4 propriate law enforcement authorities of Canada, the 

5 United Kingdom, the European Union, and other coun6 tries in Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean, to 

7 identify and present, in the report required by section 5 

8 and in future analyses of suspicious transaction reports, 

9 cash transaction reports, currency and monetary instru10 ment reports, and other relevant data to identify trends 

11 and assess risks in the movement of illicit funds from illicit 

12 fentanyl operations from Mexico, India, the People’s Re13 public of China, or any country in the Western Hemi14 sphere through the financial systems of the United States, 

15 the United Kingdom, and Europe. 

Æ 


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